Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tyrek 
This was the only teacher , that wasn't giving questions but wanted questions.And that's pretty weird.But since he had one he raised his hand."Sorry for asking this stupid question , but what exactly is Astronomy?"he asked , grinning.
Risu grinned. "We will come to that in a moment."
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HaRoHeGiNeLu Hehe. Finally. A seemingly nice professor. Other than the DADA one... what was his name? Oh, well.
"Hi." she waved. She got giddy with joy of the nice professor.
Then it occured to her, "Um, so we call you..." He never said his name, right? Silly Professor.
"Oh." Risu paused. "Right, of course. Professor Antares will do. I do not insist on 'sir' or anything like that. Much too formal. Yes?" Another student had raised his hand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Harry174 Simon looked at the Professor, an exam in his first year. "EEP" he looked shocked, but he soon regained his sences and asked. "Professor, what if like me you know very little on Astronomy, do you get to skip the end of term exam." Simon didn't really like sitting in exams they got on his nerves and made him stressed.
"Well, I am hoping that, by the end of this term, you will know a little more about this subject. I'm sure you will find my lessons easy enough to follow. And if you do not, then I'll be glad to assist you by answering any questions you might have."
He looked around. There were no other questions.
"Very well. Astronomy," he began, "the study of the cosmos, is perhaps one of the oldest natural sciences to exist. And it's definitely the one that captivates and fascinates us the most. Everyone of you is no doubt aware of the scientific and exploratory strides that have been made especially in the last two centuries." Risu flicked his wand in the direction of the projector.
"Pictures such as this one of the Eagle Nebula are engrained in the public mind in a way that few other fields of science can even think of emulating. But, as you can imagine, astronomy started out much more humble than this. This next picture," he flicked his wand again, shows one such origin."
"This is an ancient Chinese text, the so-called 'Chu Silk Manuscript'. It's probably around 2,400 years old." He paused to let this sink in. "The text has only been translated partially, and I would leave it to my colleagues of the Sinology departments everywhere to explain to you exactly how that process works and where its difficulties lie, but it concerns itself with, among other things, the formation of the Earth and the Sun, the seasons, and the order of the months. One section reads," and here Risu picked up a scrap of parchment from his desk, "'The second month is called Ru. During this month, you can send out an army and build a city.'"
He put the parchment aside and looked up at the students. "From that little quote alone, you can probably guess which discipline astronomy used to be very closely connected to. Does anyone care to venture a guess?"